Market traded range bound today but maintained a downtrend in contrast with yesterday. Banks, E&P and Cement sector stocks dipped on concerns relating to spread of Corona virus as well as resumption of IMF package, which requires an upward adjustment in electricity tariff as well as curtailment of subsidies. International crude oil prices went up by 1% during the session, however, local E&P companies failed to reciprocate. Foreign selling in banking sector stocks created an extra pressure on the Index, which lost 308pts during the session, closing -138pts (unadjusted). Among scrips, TRG topped volumes with 11.9M shares, followed by UNITY (8.7M) followed by SNBL (6.4M).

· The Index closed at 40,514pts as against 40,653pts showing a decline of 138pts (-0.3% DoD) Sectors contributing to the performance include E&P (-51pts), Cement (-24pts), O&GMCs (-17pts), Fertilizer (-16pts) and Food (-10pts).

· Volumes remained low at 145.9mn shares compared with 150.3mn the other day (-5% DoD). Average traded value declined by 2% to reach US$ 39.1mn as against US$ 40mn.

· Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include TRG, UNITY, SNBL, KEL and AVN, which formed 26% of total volumes.

· Stocks that contributed positively to the index include MCB (+15pts), TRG (+12pts), ISL (+6pts), MEBL (+6pts) and FFC (+5pts). Stocks that contributed negatively include HBL (-20pts), PPL (-19pts), ENGRO (-17pts), PSO (-14pts) and POL (-14pts).